So the new USNews rankings are out, and Mizzou is down to 129. Mizzou was 86 when I went there 20 years ago so this has been a huge fall. But some complain about the USNews rankings because there's a degree of subjectivity to it because a lot of it is based on surveys of college presidents and deans. One thing I heard was that a decent way to rank schools purely based on outcome is with the completely objective metric of 6 year graduation rates among the student body. Schools that graduate more students have better outcomes and are thus better schools. So I got the graduation rates for all of the P5 schools and ranked them based on that. Based on that metric it looks like the ACC is the best conference, followed by the B1G, then the PAC, the SEC, with the Big XII being the worst. Mizzou comes in at 43 at this point. I have to think they've falling in recent years. I really think Mizzou rightfully belongs somewhere in the mid 30s on that list. Hopefully the new leadership will turn this around and we can see our graduation rate rise into the mid 70s. I think roughly a graduation rate of 90+ is elite, 80+ is quite good, 70+ is decent, and below 70 is kind of problematic. Mizzou has fallen just below 70%. The good news is at least we're not kansas and there are about 20 P5 schools beneath us.
Ranking P5 schools by 6 year graduation rate:
1. Notre Dame 95.7% ACC
2. Duke 94.8% ACC
3. Stanford 94.6% PAC
4. Virginia 94.2% ACC
5. Northwestern 93.3% B1G
6. Vanderbilt 92.9% SEC
7. Boston College 91.3% ACC
8. Michigan 91.0% B1G
9. UCLA 91.0% PAC
10. USC 90.8% PAC
11. Cal 90.7% PAC
12. UNC 90.3% ACC
13. Wake Forest 88.2% ACC
14. Florida 87.0% SEC
15. Penn State 86.0% B1G
16. Georgia 84.6% SEC
17. Maryland 84.6% B1G
18. Illinois 84.2% B1G
19. Washington 83.9% PAC
20. Wisconsin 83.7% B1G
21. Ohio State 83.5% B1G
22. Virginia Tech 82.6% ACC
23. Clemson 82.3% ACC
24. Pitt 81.8% ACC
25. Georgia Tech 81.5% ACC
26. Miami 81.1% ACC
27. Rutgers 80.8% B1G
28. Texas 80.6% XII
29. Syracuse 80.3% ACC
30. Texas A&M 79.3% SEC
31. Michigan State 78.9% B1G
32. Minnesota 78.4% B1G
33. Florida State 77.9% ACC
34. Indiana 77.8% B1G
35. TCU 75.5% XII
36. NC State 75.2% ACC
37. South Carolina 73.0% SEC
38. Purdue 73.0% B1G
39. Baylor 72.2% XII
40. Auburn 71.1% SEC
41. Iowa 70.0% B1G
42. Colorado 69.8% PAC
***43. Mizzou 69.5% SEC***
44. Tennessee 69.3% SEC
45. Iowa State 68.9% XII
46. Oregon 68.8% PAC
47. Washington State 67.2% PAC
48. Nebraska 66.8% B1G
49. Alabama 65.7% SEC
50. Oklahoma 65.4% XII
51. LSU 67.4% SEC
52. Arizona State 63.4% PAC
53. Oregon State 63.1% PAC
54. Arkansas 62.3% SEC
55. Utah 62.2% PAC
56. Ole Miss 61.4% SEC
57. Oklahoma State 61.0% XII
58. Kentucky 60.6% SEC
59. Mississippi State 60.4% SEC
60. Arizona 60.3% PAC
61. kansas 60.1% XII
62. Texas Tech 59.1% XII
63. Kansas State 58.8% XII
64. West Virginia 57.3% XII
65. Louisville 53.6% ACC
Ranking P5 schools by 6 year graduation rate:
1. Notre Dame 95.7% ACC
2. Duke 94.8% ACC
3. Stanford 94.6% PAC
4. Virginia 94.2% ACC
5. Northwestern 93.3% B1G
6. Vanderbilt 92.9% SEC
7. Boston College 91.3% ACC
8. Michigan 91.0% B1G
9. UCLA 91.0% PAC
10. USC 90.8% PAC
11. Cal 90.7% PAC
12. UNC 90.3% ACC
13. Wake Forest 88.2% ACC
14. Florida 87.0% SEC
15. Penn State 86.0% B1G
16. Georgia 84.6% SEC
17. Maryland 84.6% B1G
18. Illinois 84.2% B1G
19. Washington 83.9% PAC
20. Wisconsin 83.7% B1G
21. Ohio State 83.5% B1G
22. Virginia Tech 82.6% ACC
23. Clemson 82.3% ACC
24. Pitt 81.8% ACC
25. Georgia Tech 81.5% ACC
26. Miami 81.1% ACC
27. Rutgers 80.8% B1G
28. Texas 80.6% XII
29. Syracuse 80.3% ACC
30. Texas A&M 79.3% SEC
31. Michigan State 78.9% B1G
32. Minnesota 78.4% B1G
33. Florida State 77.9% ACC
34. Indiana 77.8% B1G
35. TCU 75.5% XII
36. NC State 75.2% ACC
37. South Carolina 73.0% SEC
38. Purdue 73.0% B1G
39. Baylor 72.2% XII
40. Auburn 71.1% SEC
41. Iowa 70.0% B1G
42. Colorado 69.8% PAC
***43. Mizzou 69.5% SEC***
44. Tennessee 69.3% SEC
45. Iowa State 68.9% XII
46. Oregon 68.8% PAC
47. Washington State 67.2% PAC
48. Nebraska 66.8% B1G
49. Alabama 65.7% SEC
50. Oklahoma 65.4% XII
51. LSU 67.4% SEC
52. Arizona State 63.4% PAC
53. Oregon State 63.1% PAC
54. Arkansas 62.3% SEC
55. Utah 62.2% PAC
56. Ole Miss 61.4% SEC
57. Oklahoma State 61.0% XII
58. Kentucky 60.6% SEC
59. Mississippi State 60.4% SEC
60. Arizona 60.3% PAC
61. kansas 60.1% XII
62. Texas Tech 59.1% XII
63. Kansas State 58.8% XII
64. West Virginia 57.3% XII
65. Louisville 53.6% ACC
Last edited:
